Winners of VCT Pacific Stage 1 to gain spots at Masters Toronto
The Valorant Champions Tour, the global esports league for the first-person shooter game Valorant, is set to kick off its Pacific league competition in Seoul this Saturday.
VCT Pacific Stage 1 will take place at the S-Plex Center in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, the same venue that hosted the Pacific stage when the VCT international league launched in 2023.
Twelve teams will compete in a single round-robin format, divided into two groups: Alpha and Omega. Each team will face every other team in its group once. The top four teams from each group will advance to the playoffs, where the final three teams will earn spots at Masters Toronto, scheduled for June in Canada.
The competition will run for some seven weeks, ending May 11.
VCT Pacific is one of four international leagues in Riot Games' Valorant esports structure, alongside the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and China leagues. The international leagues serve as key pathways for players to advance to major Valorant tournaments such as Masters and Champions.
The Pacific league covers East Asia (excluding China), Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania, with players from these regions considered locally eligible.
The winning teams of Pacific Stage 1 traditionally earn spots at Masters, while the Pacific Stage 2 winners secure spots at Champions.
Although the detailed schedule is yet to be confirmed, Pacific Stage 2 is expected to be held at the same venue this year, with the 2025 Valorant Champions set for Paris in September.
Korea's Valorant powerhouses — DRX, Gen.G, T1 and Nongshim RedForce — will represent the country in this year's Pacific Stage 1.
Notably, Korea has secured two consecutive victories at the Masters, with Gen.G rising as the champion of 2024 Masters Shanghai and T1 setting a record by securing its first-ever win at the 2025 Masters Bangkok.
Tickets for VCT Pacific Stage 1 are currently on sale via Interpark Ticket. International fans can purchase tickets through Global Interpark, with the page available in English and Japanese.
yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com
